Smoke and Fire
by Crystal Dawn
Summary: Mafia AU based on Peking's new skin. Plucky reporter Yuxiang would do nearly anything to get away from being assigned to desk duty - including throwing herself into the middle of a mob war to get a scoop. Will she get the story of a lifetime... or will she just become another casualty in Peking Duck and Boston Lobster's proxy war?


It was a rainy early fall Friday afternoon when he dropped it on her desk.

Yuxiang looked up from her typewriter to see her editor sliding the manila folder on top of her other papers. The Food Soul with the crisp suit and the long white hair gave her a look full of pity over his round glasses. Plum Juice seemed genuinely regretful for what he'd apparently decided to assign her.

"What's this?" she asked, curious about the sorry look she'd just received. She stopped typing the advice column she'd been working on up til then and picked up the file.

"Yuxiang," Plum Juice began, his voice serious. "You know you're one of my best reporters…" Yuxiang quirked an eyebrow. For Plum Juice to open with such a thing, he had to be very distressed indeed. She was well aware that he was supportive of her professional ambitions. He wasn't the one who'd seen fit to relegate her to desk duty, after all; that would have been the editor-in-chief.

"Yes…?" she asked skeptically. Plum Juice took a quick sweep of the newsroom with his eyes; as it was a Friday afternoon, the room was relatively quiet. Very few of their co-workers had lingered long after lunch. Most of them were already out at their after-work watering hole.

"What's the problem, Plum Juice?"

The man released a long sigh before meeting Yuxiang's eyes again.

"There's a story I want you on," he began. He picked up speed as he continued talking. "It's dangerous. Every investigative reporter we've sent out has come back with nothing, or not come back at all."

"And you want to send me out on it?" She knew she sounded incredulous, but the truth was that she wouldn't turn it down anyway. She had been itching to get her nose back into other people's business for months. Sitting behind a desk writing schmaltzy advice columns didn't suit her and Plum Juice knew it.

"I do," Plum Juice affirmed with a nod. "I have faith you'll be the one to crack this case." Yuxiang regarded him skeptically.

"Is that all?" she asked, sliding the file open with her finger. As she flipped through the papers, she caught a few relevant details; it was a mob case with targeted hits and trafficking, the usual sort of organized crime beat. From a quick glance, Yuxiang wasn't quite sure what was so special about this. They dealt with organized crime on a daily basis.

"The truth is," Plum Juice began, "I managed to convince the editor-in-chief to give you a chance on this one. It's been a tough nut to crack, so I proposed you might have an easier time of it, being a woman and all." Yuxiang made a small, disgusted noise; while Plum Juice was more than happy to have a woman on the crime beat, their editor-in-chief was not. It had been a source of constant tension since he'd taken over the position months ago.

It didn't help that it was common knowledge that he'd gotten the job because his Master Attendant was the owner of the paper.

Still, Yuxiang sighed, snapped the file shut, and pushed her reading glasses up her nose. She wanted out of that stuffy bullpen so bad that she'd risk life and limb for it.

"So why have the other reporters been coming away empty-handed?" Plum Juice leaned against her desk and folded his arms.

"From what we can tell," he began, "The ones who come up empty-handed are most likely spooking the target before they can make contact with him." Yuxiang's eyebrow rose as Plum Juice picked the file up and began to flip through it.

"And the ones who died?"

"Were too close to making contact." Plum Juice found the page he was looking for and pulled it out. He handed it to Yuxiang, who regarded it with a skeptical eye. It was a profile of a Food Soul with a blurry picture paper-clipped to it. The picture itself showed nothing; just the back of a man in a non-descript coat. The only thing remotely remarkable about him was the braid that hung the length of his entire back.

"This is the target," Plum Juice continued. "Peking Duck. He's supposed to be head of an organization called the Forbidden City Family. According to our informants, they've got their fingers in everything from hit jobs to illegal gambling and prostitution." Yuxiang took the file back from Plum Juice and slid the profile back inside.

"Never heard of him," Yuxiang muttered as she flipped through the information.

"Apparently their family just recently arrived from the Light Kingdom and it's got the local bosses in a tizzy." That explained part of it, but something didn't sit right with Yuxiang. She kept up with the news from her former home and she'd never heard a peep about this man or his family.

"According to the local police, we should expect a large-scale gang war soon," Plum Juice continued. "Unless they can step in and catch him first. That's why they need our help. In exchange, we get a front row seat to the action." Yuxiang was unconvinced.

"If they haven't been able to nail Boston Lobster yet, what makes them think they can catch this ghost?" Yuxiang already knew the answer: Boston Lobster had his claws in everything, including certain people at the local police station as well as the courthouse and some of the local newsrooms. Even if he was the dirtiest criminal in town, they all knew he was practically untouchable.

"C'mon, Yuxiang," Plum Juice dropped his voice. "You know the answer to that as well as I do." Of course she did. Lobster practically ran Hilena. In fact, it sounded a lot like they were being sent out to do his dirty work.

"Why don't they just hire a gumshoe, then?" she pressed on. This seemed more up their alley, anyway.

"They've tried. The ones that would even take the case had about as much luck as the newsies."

"So none at all."

"Right. Look, if you don't want to do this, I completely understand."

"I never said that." With that, she snapped the folder shut and stood from her desk. "But I haven't finished this advice column, so…" Not that she actually wanted to, and Plum Juice knew it. He sighed and slid off her desk.

"Right," he grumbled. Yuxiang knew Plum Juice enjoyed the advice column as much as she did. Still, she moved out of her chair so he could slide around and take her spot. "I'll finish you up. You can head on over to the precinct and meet up with Black Tea. She'll be your liaison for this job."

"She's expecting me?" So he knew she'd take this job after all.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "She said she'd be in her office. If you go now, you can start tonight. Probably get a good head start on it by the weekend."

"If he's as hard a nut to crack as you say," Yuxiang remarked, pulling her purse down from the coat rack by the door, "It isn't like I have to worry about getting scooped." Plum Juice was suspiciously silent.

" _Right?_ "

"Well," he hesitated, "Don't hold me to this, but I heard the Tribune put Popcorn on this story." Yuxiang crinkled her nose. This Peking Duck fellow must really have burned through their reporters if they were bringing Popcorn in. It wasn't that he was a bad reporter; quite the opposite. It was just that he tended to annoy people until they spilled whatever he was looking for.

An unfortunate side effect was that Popcorn also tended to annoy everyone else in the process. That included Yuxiang. And she was sure she'd run into him on the trail.

"Ugh," she mumbled. "Well, I'll try to avoid him. Thank you, Plum Juice. I'll see what I can dig up."

* * *

Within the hour, Yuxiang found herself hanging her coat in the 3rd Precinct of the Hilena Metropolitan Police Department. The newspaper she worked for, the Capitol Register, had a fairly tight relationship with the police, as did their rival paper, the Hilena Tribune. Of course, if they were to get their crime beat out in a timely fashion, such a relationship was a necessity.

To that end, she had worked with Black Tea before. The brown haired Food Soul was also a Light Kingdom ex-pat, so they at least had that common ground. They were also both pretty taciturn under normal circumstances, and that made Yuxiang much more comfortable with her than any of the other cops.

"Mind if I smoke?" Yuxiang asked as she put her bag down and sat across from Black Tea. The brunette gave her a flat look over her tidy desk and sighed.

"Milk won't like it," she admonished. "Please just wait until we're finished." Yuxiang gave a small sigh but didn't complain; she knew Black Tea's partner could be a real bulldozer when she wanted to be.

"Yes, ma'am," she replied tartly. "Now, what do you have for me?" Black Tea swiveled in her chair to face her and picked a file up from the wooden "in" box on her desk.

"Plum Juice has probably already given you most of our intel," she said as she slid the file over the polished wooden surface. "But the noose is really starting to tighten around our necks here. The tips we've been receiving suggest this Peking Duck character and his men are planning something. We're running out of time to bring them in." Yuxiang took the file and began flipping through it.

There was a bit more information about their target in the police file. He was a uniquely skilled assassin, as well as a very powerful Food Soul. He wore a monocle. He may have had some kind of psychic powers. He had been rumored to haunt the darker districts of Lighttown. His gang were also a complete unknown; there wasn't a single name connected with the Forbidden City Family other than his. And he was a smoker, too, as it turned out.

Yuxiang finished her perusal and snapped the file back shut. She added it to the folder she'd already been carrying in her bag and turned back to Black Tea.

"So you're pursuing this Duck character because you think he'll be easier to bring in than Boston Lobster," Yuxiang casually remarked. She couldn't help but prod at that thread. She wondered how Black Tea would react. The other Food Soul simply sighed.

"As much as I would personally love to put him under the jail," Black Tea remarked flatly, "The higher-ups have pulled resources off his case to try and nip this new gang in the bud. The logic goes that it'd be easier to bring down a smaller, newer gang than a better established one." Yuxiang crossed her legs and propped her chin against her hand.

"Convenient for Lobster," Yuxiang remarked with a smirk. Black Tea gave her a long-suffering sigh and allowed her eyes to flutter closed.

"Isn't it?" she breathed, her voice dropping. "What a pain. But I can only do my job, Yuxiang. I may hate it, but my hands are tied." Yuxiang felt a pang of pity. She reached across the desk and covered the other woman's hand in a congenial gesture.

"Mine aren't," Yuxiang said under her breath. "If I turn anything up, I'll send it your way, alright? In the meantime, do you have any good leads on our current target?" Black Tea's stony façade was firmly in place again.

"The closest we've managed to narrow it down is the Qīnglong Alley area," she replied, "There are a few speakeasies and pawn shops in the area that you might check. So far, the man has been like a ghost, though. If we didn't have that picture of him, we'd be inclined to believe he didn't actually exist at all, to be honest." Yuxiang nodded, removing a small notebook from a pocket of her purse. She scratched down the lead then replaced her pen and paper before standing.

"Got it," she replied, meeting Black Tea's eyes. "I'll head over and check it out. Will you be in tomorrow?" Black Tea shook her head, then tossed a cautious look around the room.

"Call over to Coffee's place to check in," she whispered. "If I'm not there, he or Chocolate will be. I don't trust these phone lines, to tell you the truth." Yuxiang had worked with Coffee and his fiancé before; he was Milk's brother and ran a detective agency out of the back of his coffee shop. His business was deeply intertwined with the 3rd Precinct through Black Tea. They were, as far as Yuxiang knew, inherently trustworthy.

"Thanks, Black Tea," she said with a nod. "I'll check in tomorrow morning." Black Tea nodded her assent and Yuxiang was on her way.

As she emerged down the stairs outside of the police precinct, the streetlights flickered to life. It was still early, not yet quite 4 o'clock, but the cloud cover was so thick that it was almost as if twilight had come early. Yuxiang turned her collar to the cool wind and pulled her pack of cigarettes out of her purse. Just as she was about to light the tip, another lighter struck right in front of her face. Startled, she backed up to see the mischievous blonde boy standing in front of her.

"Well, well!" Popcorn said with a smirk. "So you're my competition this time!" Yuxiang's expression melted from surprise into flat inscrutability. She almost wondered who Popcorn's liaison at the precinct was, but then decided she didn't actually care.

"I suppose," she answered hesitantly. She really didn't want to encourage him.

"Finally," he chirped, laying a hand upon his chest. "Some appropriate competition! Those other boys the Register has been sending out have been such dullwits!" Yuxiang fought to keep from rolling her eyes; she knew this was his just his weird way of trying to sweet talk her. She wasn't interested in the least; Popcorn had a reputation for having no standards as far as women were concerned.

"You don't say," she responded dully. "And have you gotten very far?" She didn't want to feign too much interest, lest Popcorn decide he wanted to talk much more.

"Of course!" he chimed. "I dare say I'll have this all wrapped up by the end of the weekend!" Yuxiang lit her cigarette and began walking. He was all talk.

"Good luck to you, then," she stated plainly from the side of her mouth. She wasn't really concerned whether he heard her or not.

"And you as well, my dear! When I scoop you, you simply must buy me a drink!" Yuxiang waved, cigarette between her slender fingers. She had exactly zero intention of being held to such a ridiculous demand.

* * *

It was already half past nine when Yuxiang slid onto the bar stool at the Leafy Piglet. She had gone straight home after visiting the police station to change her clothes, discarding her dowdy brown work skirt and white dress blouse for a crimson, short-skirted lounge dress. She had let down her hair, going from her usual tight bun to a long ponytail topped with a cute red pillbox hat. But changing her clothes alone didn't account for the lost time.

No, that came from beating the streets of Lighttown.

Being an immigrant herself, she wasn't exactly a stranger to those who lived in Hilena's Light Kingdom quarter. Although she had moved nearer to her downtown office years ago, she was still on friendly terms with many of the shopkeeps there. The unfortunate part about this was that most of them were already aware of her occupation. That made prying delicate information out of her targets much harder, even as they dealt with her kindly. An inquiry about the Forbidden City Family or Peking Duck was more likely to result in a friendly counter question about her health as it was any useful information.

Scouring Qīnglong Alley had been just as frustrating. Yuxiang had already visited four speakeasies, two nightclubs, and five hooka lounges. She wasn't exactly the kind who would go on a pub crawl, so she was certain she looked badly out of place. She hadn't exactly expected to scratch up information on the first try, but even she had to admit that this whole ordeal was discouraging.

At this point, she was willing to simply take a drink from this bar and call it a night.

She flagged the bartender over to her. It wasn't a terribly busy Friday night; there were just enough people to keep the room smoky, as far as Yuxiang could tell. The bartender - a shirtless, muscular man in a vest with shaggy green hair – sidled up to her with a drink already in his hand. With a grin, he placed a napkin on the bar in front of Yuxiang and then sat the drink down.

"Er, I haven't ordered…"

"It's from the gentleman in the booth over there," he replied calmly, flicking a finger over Yuxiang's shoulder. "He sends his regards." Yuxiang's eyebrows pinched together as she turned. She hadn't been there long at all and she certainly hadn't noticed anyone give the barkeep any orders. Before she could question him about it, he was back down the bar, chatting up another customer.

The corner of the restaurant that the shaggy-haired bartender had pointed out was so poorly lit that Yuxiang couldn't make much out at all. There was a single occupied booth with only one man in it, and he appeared to have a drink in front of him. From what Yuxiang could tell, he also had a cigarette in his hand, the cherry glowing red as he took a drag. Curious and a little hopeful, she picked up the drink from the bar and slid off the stool. Maybe this man was the lead she'd been looking for.

Strangely, as she got closer to the booth, it didn't become much clearer. Perhaps the lighting was too bad, but it was nearly impossible to make out the man's features. Schooling her expression, she tried not to squint.

"Were you looking for some company?" she asked, sliding into the seat across from him. She removed her cigarette case from her purse and snapped it open. By the time she'd brought her cigarette to her lips, her new companion had already opened his lighter and struck the flint. Closing her eyes, she leaned in and took a drag, lighting the end.

"Not particularly," he replied. "But you seemed like you were." His voice was like dark velvet, sweet and thick. Yuxiang found her eyebrows rising before she realized it.

"What made you think that?" she asked. She had masked it in her voice, but her heart had begun to race. What was causing that reaction? Something about this situation was worrisome, but by that token exciting as well.

"You're a bit out of place here, aren't you?" he asked, voice kind but somehow dangerous. "One might even be given to think you're trying to pry into places you don't belong, hmm?" Yuxiang tried to retain her poker face, but that wasn't exactly a comforting thing to hear. He had said nothing threatening or scary at all, yet somehow she felt like she'd been dunked in ice water.

Smoothing her nerves down, she recited the response she'd prepared in her mind hours ago.

"You got me, big boy," she said with a smile, flicking the dead ash from her cigarette into the ashtray. "I'm looking for a specific person, actually. You don't think you could help a dame out, do you?" He chuckled in response, sending a shiver down Yuxiang's spine.

"So I've heard," he replied sweetly. "And that depends on what you need. Tell me, my dear: what business do you have with Peking Duck?"

Bingo.

Yuxiang did her best to hide her excitement. But this was it: she was finally on his trail. This man must have been part of the Forbidden City Family.

"I was hoping to offer him my services," she bluffed. "I'm adept at accounting and writing copy, and I can type at least a hundred words a minute." The man sitting across from her seemed amused. For a moment, Yuxiang was afraid he'd call her on her lie. He placed his cigarette in the ash tray and tented his hands.

"There is no shortage of qualified secretaries and accountants," he answered succinctly. "Unless you have some other unique qualifications? Or perhaps you'd be better suited to a job with _no_ qualifications?" Yuxiang felt the color rise to her face. Had she been less piqued by his comment, she might have been thankful the light was too poor to see her angry blush. Instead, she found herself struggling to control her temper.

"Well?" she pressed on, trying not to give vent to her feelings. "Do you have any of _those_ jobs available?" This response actually seemed to give the man pause. He seemed to be reevaluating her. Good.

"You're quite desperate, aren't you? Why?" Yuxiang looked away with a "hmph".

"I have no reason to tell an intermediary," she huffed, dropping her voice. "I will discuss that, but only with Peking Duck." The man took a long drag from his cigarette. Then, when that seemed inadequate, he took a deep drink of his liquor. He seemed to be mulling over the ultimatum. It was nearly an eternity before he spoke again.

"Very well," he finally replied. "We may have a use for you." As he spoke, he slid a business card across the table to Yuxiang. When had he gotten that? She took it and squinted to read it in the dim light. It was a card for a pawn shop located several streets away.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly, looking up from the card.

"Tomorrow at one PM." His voice was firm. "Come alone and tell no one where you're going. If you do, it won't go well for you. Understood?" Yuxiang nodded her agreement.

"I do. I'll be there."

As she moved to stand, he reached out a hand and stopped her.

"Aren't you going to finish your drink?" He seemed amused, but he did make Yuxiang realize she hadn't touched her drink. She sat back down again, stirring it before bringing it to her lips.

"I wouldn't want to be rude," she murmured. It was a gin and tonic; Yuxiang found she didn't mind at all.

"Hurry and finish it, then. After all, you're going to be very busy tomorrow."

* * *

Yuxiang was barely able to sleep that night. Not due to the drink or the exertion, really; it was due more to her nerves. What exactly had she agreed to at that bar? Would it be worth it to get her story? Would she be able to get away safely if things got too intense?

She supposed that was what her police liaison was for. With that in mind, around nine in the morning she called over to Coffee's café. She'd already been awake for hours at that point, but she also hadn't wanted to make a nuisance of herself by calling too early.

"How did it go?" Black Tea asked when she finally got through to her.

"I think I have a lead," Yuxiang breathed excitedly. "I… think I may have also committed to working in a brothel."

"Yuxiang."

"You don't need to scold me," she scoffed. "I'm going to do my best to avoid that particular career change."

"I would certainly hope so," Black Tea quipped back. "Doesn't seem like a line of work you're cut out for, no offense."

"None taken," Yuxiang replied. "But I'm concerned that if I give you the address I'm supposed to meet them at, that something may go wrong."

"You know I don't approve," Black Tea's voice relayed her skepticism. "But I understand. Do you want to meet somewhere afterwards to check in?" Yuxiang considered her situation. She was walking into the tiger's den. It wasn't a bad idea to have a back up plan in place.

"How about this," she offered, "There's a café not far from there called the Cozy Cat. If you don't hear from me by five, I'll meet you there." Black Tea seemed to consider it for a second before replying.

"Very well, then," she finally said, her hesitation obvious. "But if it helps you get closer to this guy, then I'm all for it."

* * *

At 12:59 sharp, Yuxiang found herself three streets down from Qīnglong Alley looking up at the façade of a pawn shop. It was agonizing deciding what to wear, but she eventually settled on a plain brown dress suit covered with her thigh-length, fur-trimmed red overcoat. She figured it was dressed down enough to avoid suggesting she'd like to work as a call girl while also being businesslike.

The front window of the shop was decorated with the tackiest Light Kingdom trinkets she could imagine: lucky ceramic cats, red lanterns, paper umbrellas and wooden slat curtains to name a few. The inside seemed dark, but the sign on the door proclaimed the business to be open. Trying to keep the trembling out of her hand, she pushed on the door, swinging it open.

The bells atop the door jingled, betraying her presence as she stepped inside. Her first impression from outside was proven correct; the shop was cluttered, dimly lit, and smelled of dust. Surely this place made no money. Yuxiang's mind immediately snapped into thinking that the pawn shop might be a front for some kind of money laundering scheme.

Just as she was about to pick up a lacquered music box and examine it, the cheerful voice of a young girl stopped her.

"Welcome to the Bamboo Smoke Pawn Shop, miss!" came the cheerful greeting. Yuxiang looked up to see a young teenage girl with long black braids smiling sweetly at her. She was dressed in a pink silk pair of pants and top of the type that Yuxiang recognized as being popular in the Light Kingdom. "Were you looking for something in particular today?"

"I… I had an appointment at one," she stammered, nearly tripping over the words. Ugh, why was she nervous? She'd been an investigative reporter for years. She'd infiltrated more frightening places than a poorly lit pawn shop in Lighttown. This would be cake walk.

Still, the girl's face lit up with recognition. She beamed and then motioned for Yuxiang to follow.

"Oh, good!" she chirped, "Uncle has been expecting you! Follow me!" The girl turned, braids swinging gracefully behind her.

They passed through a beaded curtain on the far end of the showroom into a second, darker display room on the other side. Yuxiang dodged to avoid the wares set out on the tables, but the younger girl seemed just fine with where everything was. Finally, they reached a bookshelf full of scrolls on the far end of the room. The girl rearranged the scrolls in a manner that Yuxiang found entirely inscrutable. And then, there was a click and the bookshelf began to move.

It slid slowly to the side to reveal a slightly better lit hallway on the other side. That was a relative thing, of course; the light was still dim in the hidden corridor, flickering with the tungsten bulbs swinging from the ceiling. Yuxiang nearly choked on her breath.

"Uncle's office is this way," the girl commented before traipsing down the run-down hallway. Yuxiang tarried for just a second more before following along behind her.

"It's amazing that this is all behind that little shop," she remarked, trying to seem casual. The chipper girl gave her a proud smile.

"Oh yes!" she chirped. "It goes way farther back than this, and it even goes underground!"

"We're not underground right now, are we?" Yuxiang asked. It wouldn't change her situation, but it was still good information to have.

"Oh no! We haven't gone quite that far," came the reply. Then, the girl stopped before a wooden door set into the cheap stucco wall.

"Uncle!" she called. "Your guest is here!" Yuxiang heard the door unlock. What she heard after that nearly stopped her heart.

"Thank you, Hawthorne. Please send her in and then excuse us."

It was as though there wasn't even a door between them. But that wasn't what had unnerved her.

The girl named Hawthorne seemed unphased, though. She gave Yuxiang a grin and a wave before dancing off back down the hall. Yuxiang watched her go until she was out of sight.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and opened the door.

The office on the other side was at once utterly plain and yet still quietly sinister. There were a pair of wooden chairs situated before a wooden desk, a lounge sofa, a bookshelf, a potted plant, wooden blinds with the afternoon sun peeking through. And on the other side of the desk…

Yuxiang startled as the door swung shut behind her. She heard the lock slide into place automatically as well. There was no escape.

"I'm to understand you've been looking for me," came the same gentle voice from the bar last night, just a hint of amusement showing through. "Have a seat, my dear, and let's have a chat. Shall we?"


End file.
